Work pants equipped with detachable knee protection pads

ABSTRACT

A work pants equipped with knee protection pads is provided. Four male clip buttons are placed on each leg member of the pants surrounding knee contacting portion of the work pants to avoid contact with knees when a wearer of the work pants kneel down. The knee protection pads for the work pants according to current application is equipped with four female clip buttons on the pad that receive the four male button clips on the pants. The knee protection pads are easy to detach from the work pants to wash the pants and pads separately. Objects such as wood chips, soil, nails, etc., get inserted between the pants and pads are easily removed by detaching the pad and sweeping them out.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Current application relates to work pants, especially to a work pantsequipped with detachable knee protection pads.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Lots of knee protections are introduced to the market. However, they canbe classified as two big groups. One group is wearing directly on kneeand the other group is attached on a pants. Most of sporting kneeprotectors belongs to the first group. People wear those knee protectorswhen play volley ball, roller blade, rock climbing cycling, etc. Thosedirect wearing knee protectors are fastened by ties or made of elasticmaterials to fasten them to knees of a wearer. Some of them are worn ona sporting pants and work pants. However, if the knee pads are too muchtightened, they block circulation of blood in the leg of wearer. Thosekinds of knee protectors are not wearable for a worker who should kneeldown for hours. Almost all of knee protectors on a work pants arestitched to the pants. It is impossible to wash knee protectorsseparately from the work pants. Some other knee protectors are insertedin pockets that are stitched to a work pants. For those pocket type kneeprotectors, the pad itself can be washed separately. However, if foreignobjects are inserted, the wearer must open the pocket and take out thepads and the foreign objects. It is purpose of the current applicationto provide working pants that is easy to clean the pants and the padsseparately.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTS

U.S. Patent Application 20070044208 by Huang; Hui-Chen illustrates aknee and elbow protector with size-adjustable fastener. U.S. PatentApplication 2006 0241633 by Stalcup; Greg; et al. illustrates a patellaprotector for a knee during surgery including a platform being sized andshaped to be slid under the patella. U.S. Patent Application 20050060783 by Gold, Jerome; et al. illustrates a high strength, impactresistant knee protector. At least one layer of impact resistant foampadding is secured to a side of the pre-formed high strength,lightweight material.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,194,770 to Fecenko illustrates a work pants. Paddedmaterial is housed within each of the knee sections, and pluralities ofstraps are attached to the house. U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,906 to Gold, etal. illustrates a joint protector of high strength impact resistantmaterial. U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,573 to Brown illustrates a protector pad.The attachment strap extends over the lower ⅔ of the pad. U.S. Pat. No.6,438,754 to Canney illustrates a weight displacing knee protector padhaving a main body comprised of a piece of foam or the like covered witha protective coating such as fabric. U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,839 to Vo, etal. illustrates a pants which include at least one pant leg and a pocketin the area of the knee. U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,845 to Ferriter illustratesa wheeled support for supporting a kneeling person. U.S. Pat. No.6,128,779 to Goldsmith, et al. illustrates a limb protector comprising aknee element. U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,768 to McCrane illustrates a jointprotector comprised of a cushion pad which is shaped to fit aboutportions of the user's knee or elbow. U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,737 to Fleegeillustrates a combined elbow and foot protector comprising strappingmembers for strapping of the protector to the body of the user, and asole attached to a flexible base. U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,440 to Ferriterillustrates a wheeled support for supporting a kneeling person. U.S.Pat. No. 5,845,333 to Crampton illustrates a resilient, flat closed-cellknee pad is rolled and inserted through a gap in a seam attaching edgesof a patch to the knee area of a work pant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,412 toHolden illustrates a knee comprises a cushion member being a flexiblesemi-cylindrical body section having a flat outer surface contact areawith tapered sides and an integral flexible quadric-spherical cut backtop section. U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,081 to Torres illustrates a work pantsconstruction in which padding is provided to protect both the knees andshins of the worker. U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,080 to Skottheim illustrates anarticulated limb protection system comprises a buffer pocket which isdisposed between an outer joint guard means and an inner joint guardmeans. U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,084 to Freese, III illustrates a pocketformed on the inside of the knees of a pair of firefighter's pantssupports a plurality of flexible gas-filled modules. U.S. Pat. No.5,134,726 to Ross illustrates sports pants with protective pads includesa trunk and legs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,473 to Valtakari illustrates anathletic garment for use in different sports. The pad pockets includinghook and loop type closure tapes and being made of an elastic materialso that pads for the protection of the wearer can be inserted into andwithdrawn from the respective pad pockets. U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,355 toRitter illustrates a knee protector covers the front of the knee, andextends rearward on both sides. The protector has foamed padding towardsthe leg, and a somewhat rigid outer shell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,303 toAtwater illustrates a knee protector pad. A flat elastomeric foam pad isenclosed in a knit sleeve and bar tack stitching attaches spaced-apartportions of the upper and lower edges of the knit sleeve to the elasticsleeve. U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,500 to Mason, et al. illustrates an athleticknee protector with a bowed leaf spring hinge structure. U.S. Pat. No.4,756,026 Pierce, Jr. illustrates contact sport protection sleeves andpads including at least one protection panel of flexible elastomericpolymeric foam or of rigid plastic attached to an elastomeric sleeve.U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,153 to Sims illustrates an athletic knee protectorhaving a flexible aluminum shield which wraps around the kneecap andsides of the knee. U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,108 to Jarvinen illustrates aknee and shin protector, comprising an outer shield and a separatepadding layer fitted therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,052 to Butlerillustrates a cushioned protector includes a stretchable sleeve oftextile material which is easily drawn over and resiliently engages andcovers the elbow or knee of the wearer. U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,872 to J.Krinick is closest to current application. Krinick used snap fastener,kind of clip button, to attach sponge like pad to a work pants. However,the snap fasteners are located in front of the knee portion of thepants.

U.S. Pat. D478,992 to Burke illustrates an orthopedic knee protector.U.S. Pat. D459,838 to Parkins illustrates a knee protector. U.S. Pat.D436,696 to Bonaventure, et al. illustrates an elbow and knee protector.U.S. Pat. D395,939 to DeFino illustrates a gardening pants with pads.U.S. Pat. D381,490 to Torres illustrates a trousers with knee pad. U.S.Pat. D373,657 to Walker illustrates a combined equestrian knee grip padand protector. U.S. Pat. D368,332 to Chiang illustrates a kneeprotector. U.S. Pat. D335,000 to Johnson illustrates a knee protector.U.S. Pat. D280,040 to Ostermaier illustrates a knee protector. U.S. Pat.D245,206 to Magnan illustrates a knee protector.

However, none of the prior art illustrates a work pants equipped withdetachable knee protection pads that are easy to detach from the padsfor cleaning and easy to remove objects between the pads and the pants.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Lots of knee protections are introduced to the market. However, they canbe classified as two big groups. One group is wearing directly on kneeand the other group is attached on a pants. Most of sporting kneeprotectors belongs to the first group. People wear those knee protectorswhen they play volley ball, roller blade, rock climbing cycling, etc.Those direct wearing knee protectors are fastened by ties or made ofelastic materials to fasten them to knees of a wearer. Some of them areworn on a sporting pants and work pants. However, if the knee pads aretoo much fastened, they block circulation of blood in the leg of wearer.Those kinds of knee protectors are not wearable for a worker who shouldkneel down for hours. Most of knee protectors on a work pants arestitched to the pants. It is impossible to wash knee protectorsseparately from the work pants. Some other knee protectors are insertedin pockets that are stitched to a work pants. For those pocket type kneeprotectors, the pad itself can be washed separately. However, if aforeign object is inserted, the wearer must open the pocket and take outthe pads and the foreign objects. It is purpose of the currentapplication to provide a working pants that is easy to clean the pantsand the pads separately. A work pants equipped with knee protection padsis provided. Four male button clips are placed on each leg member of thepants surrounding knee contacting portion of the work pants to avoidcontact with knees when a wearer of the work pant kneel down. The kneeprotection pads for the work pants according to current application areequipped with four female button clips that receive the four male buttonclips. The knee protection pads are easy to detach from the work pantsto wash the pants and pads separately. Objects such as wood chips, soil,nails, etc., get inserted between the pants and pads are easily removedby detaching the pad and seeping them out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a work pants equipped with twodetachable knee protection pads according to current application.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective exploded view of a work pants equippedwith two detachable knee protection pads showing engagement of male andfemale clip buttons.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a work pants equipped with two detachable kneeprotection pads according to current application.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along the line A-A′ seen from viewpoint A″ in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a work pants (1) equipped with twodetachable knee protection pads (2) according to current application.Each kneel protection pad (2) is attached to the pants (1) on the kneeportion (3). FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective exploded view of a workpants (1) equipped with two detachable knee protection pads (2) showingengagement of male clip button (4-M) and female clip button (4-F). FIG.3 is a side view of the work pants (1) equipped with two detachable kneeprotection pads (2) according to current application. Eight male clipbuttons (4-M) which are placed on the knee portion of the pants on seamlines (8). Among them, two male clip button buttons (4-M) are placed onouter seam line (8-L-O) of left leg of the pants. Another two male clipbutton buttons (4-M) are placed on inner seam line (8-L-I) of left legof the pants. The other two male clip button buttons (4-M) are placed oninner seam line (8-R-I) of right leg of the pants and last two male clipbuttons (4-M) are place on outer seam line (8-R-O) of right leg of thepants. The knee protection pads (2) are in a shape of shield. The pad(2) is comprised of a cushion material (5), such as sponge, covered withcloths (6). The protection pad (2) is stitched along the brim (7),except the top, thereof to hold the cushion material (5) therein. Fourfemale clip buttons (4-F) are placed on the stitched brim (7) to receivethe male clip buttons (4-M) that match in position. Most of work pantsof prior arts, equipped with knee protection pads, are not separablefrom the pads. So, it is not an easy job to wash the pants with pad.However, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the pads (2) according to currentapplication are easily detachable from the pants (1). Therefore, user ofthe pants (1) can wash the pants (I) and pads (2) separately. It is thefirst benefit of the current application over the prior arts. FIG. 4 isa cross-sectional view along the line A-A′ seen from view point A″ inFIG. 1. Due to the structure of the pad (2), a gap (9) is developedbetween the pad (2) and the pants (1) when a user of the pants (1)stands up. Then foreign objects (10), which may be entrapped into thegap (9), can be easily removed by just stand up and shake them off. Itis the second benefit of the current application.

Among the prior arts, U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,872 to J. Krinick is closestto current application. Krinick used snap fastener, kind of clip button,to attach sponge like pad to a work pants. However, the snap fastenersare located in front of the knee portion of the pants. Then, the snapfasteners will press knee of the wearer when the wearer kneels down onthe ground. It is clear that so much pain will burdens the wearer whensome metallic parts are laid under the knee of a person and pressed bythe weight of a user.

To avoid such pain clip buttons (4) are placed closed to seam line (8)in the current application.

Another closest prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,412 to Holden. Hediscloses an attaching facility 32, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 13 a andfrom column 5 lines 28 to line 39. The facility 32 is a slap-on styletype 44, which consists of a first pair of VELCRO strips 46. A substance48 is for securing each first VELCRO strip 46 vertically along an innersurface of one tapered side 28 of the flexible semi-cylindrical bodysection 24 of the cushion member 22. Second pair of VELCRO strips 50 isprovided. A substance 52 is for securing each second VELCRO strip 50vertically along an outer surface of the pant leg 34 at the knee area;so that the first pair of VELCRO strips 46 can mate with the second pairof VELCRO strips 50. Holden used pair of VELCRO®, indicated as 46 and50, and additional substance 52 to secure the VELCRO® S. It needs moresteps than the current application to make the product. In addition tothis, dirt and threads from clothes are easily stick to the VELCRO® whendo laundry. They should be removed to maintain the sticking force of theVELCRO®. It needs another effort to maintain the pads attachable to awork pants.

As a conclusion, the work pants equipped with detachable knee protectionpads according to current application is most simple and easy to cleanone ever introduced.

1. A work pants equipped with two detachable knee protection pads on theknee portion thereof is comprised of a work pants equipped with eightmale clip buttons which are placed on the knee portion of the pants onseam lines; two male clip button buttons are placed on outer seam lineof left leg of the pants and two male clip button buttons are placed oninner seam line of left leg of the pants and two male clip buttonbuttons are placed on inner seam line of right leg of the pants and twomale clip button buttons are placed on outer seam line of right leg ofthe pants, and two shield shaped knee protection pads; each of them iscomprised of a cushion material, such as sponge, covered with cloths,and is stitched along the brim, except the top, thereof to hold thecushion material therein, and four female clip buttons that are placedon the stitched brim to receive the male clip buttons that match inposition.